China sets up more listening stations against Taiwan

TAIPEI: China’s army has set up at least three new large aerial listening stations in coastal Fujian Province to monitor radio signals from Taiwan, according to a report by Canada-based monthly Kanwa Information Center.

The magazine’s latest issue reported that the People’s Liberation Army has been increasing its snooping stations in the province, the closest to Taiwan, over the past five years.

One new monitoring station is reportedly only about 23 kilometers away from the Longtian Air Base, where S-300PMU-2 surface-to-air missiles are deployed. All of the antennas and dishes there are directed toward Taipei, the capital, and the major central city of Taichung, the report said.

That means all radio signals, including mobile phones and other type of wireless communications, from military bases and government institutions across the western half of Taiwan.

The Longtian base has six large-size aerial fairings, seven butterfly-shaped antennas and three small butterfly antennas, which can also monitor signals from southern Taiwan, Kanwa said.

Antennas placed on higher foundations are responsible for intercepting electromagnetic waves from Taiwan’s military radars while the butterfly-shaped antennas are used to monitor radio signals, according to the magazine.

Another base in Fujian has installed large-size aerial fairings, two small fairings and five butterfly antennas, with four of them used to monitor signals from Taiwan and one for signals from Okinawa at the southwest edge of Japan, it said.

The third new base, which has two large fairings and one small one, is located at Hui’an in Fujian and focuses its monitoring on signals from northern Taiwan, it said.